Rebecca Lim to play an actress who can’t act

SINGAPORE — To commemorate 35 years of producing dramas, Mediacorp TV Channel 8’s 2017 mid-year blockbuster will be The Lead, a show about four friends who enter the entertainment industry together but find success at different paces.

Filming for the drama, which spans from the 1980’s to present-day, commenced on Wednesday (Nov 2) with its stars Rebecca Lim, Shaun Chen, Andie Chen and Julie Tan present at a small ceremony on set.

Lim, whose 1980’s look comprises denim overalls and a short wig, is in the mind-bending position of being an A-list actress playing a struggling actress.

“I’m supposed to be someone who cannot act,” she explained. “I come into this industry thinking that I can enter via the acting school, which was the route that a lot of the veterans took. But because my acting was so horrible, out of the four of us good friends — Shaun, Andie, Julie and myself — the three of them got through and I didn’t. So they went on to pursue stardom and being very famous, and I was the only one who had to take other routes to get to where I wanted to be.”

The role is lighthearted but far from easy. “My previous roles in the past few years have been very mature, no-nonsense and formal. So this role is going to be very, very challenging for me — so challenging that last night, I couldn’t sleep well, because I was so nervous about today,” she said.

How is the 2015 Star Awards’ Best Actress preparing to play someone who can’t act? “I’ll recall how I was 10 years ago. Or maybe even five years ago,” she laughed. Specifically, she will remind herself of how, in the 2006 drama Family Matters, she repeatedly flubbed the line, ‘Mr Chen, you have a meeting at 3.30.’ “Up until now, it’s still stuck in my mind,” she said. “I had no dramas for three years after that.”

That is enough to convince her that art imitates life. “I kind of think (the script writers) are trying to maybe take a dig at me. Who knows?” she laughed. “I think they took from my experience — like, this girl who can’t even say one line, and then ultimately somehow becomes something in this industry.”

Shaun Chen does not have the same conspiracy theory, though: “I don’t think my story is interesting enough,” he chuckled.

Instead, as an actor who shoots to fame right away, his character will be taking on the iconic roles that the TV station has produced, such as Mr Fang (the shaggy-haired character played by Chen Hanwei in 1995’s Morning Express) and the gambler played by Li Nanxing in The Unbeatables. “That will be the fun part,” he said.

Both Chen and Lim also starred in another series set in the TV industry — 2013’s The Dream Makers – but this will be very different, Chen explained. “The Dream Makers was about the lives of the people working behind the scenes. This one examines actors’ roles — actors’ joys and tribulations and their romantic affairs. I think the material is quite fresh. The audience might like to know what it’s like to be an actor — they will find out that our job isn’t easy!”

The Lead debuts May 22, weekdays at 9pm on Mediacorp TV Channel 8.